NAB heralds new era in banking

National Australia Bank (NAB) today officially opened its new prototype retail store at its Docklands headquarters in Melbourne.

The new NAB store will change the way banking will be viewed in Australia, and is the first of five similar style stores NAB will open across Australia in the first half of 2012.

With the customer experience entirely at the core of the design and service delivery, the store features an open plan layout, state of the art security and utilises cutting edge banking technology to support mobile and internet banking in-store, along with face-to-face conversations.

The new store design followed a partnership with designer Warren and Mahoney and an analysis of the very best retailers from across the world. NAB also considered the ‘science of shopping’, worked with shopper researchers and created a test lab – a mock store in a Melbourne warehouse – to observe customers in a real-life setting in order to refine the final store design.

Executive General Manager NAB Retail, Chris Bayliss said the new stores were a significant investment in the future of NAB’s store network, and came in addition to other recent investment in NAB’s stores and customer-facing staff.

“Stores will always play a critical role in banking as they are where customer relationships are formed. We are constantly refurbishing and revitalising our store network and successful features from the new Docklands store will also be incorporated into upcoming refurbishment programs.

“Our new stores show our invigorated thinking around banking delivery, allowing us to compete with other retailers – not just other banks – for our customer’s time. The focus on retailing and the customer experience will be evident with things like free Wifi, fun and interesting digital signage content, a community zone, kids zone, user friendly product and service information, great music, and even am unique NAB ‘scent’.

“Customers will experience a whole new level of service in a safe, secure environment and enjoy specialised and personalised, guidance and advice from staff. Docklands will always feature the latest thinking in retail and will showcase innovative features that can be rolled out to our network.

“While the new Store is a focus, the entire network is becoming more ‘retail’ with all customer-facing staff in a new corporate wardrobe - not a uniform - by February and most have completed a comprehensive sales leadership and service training program by Grist consulting which focuses on customer needs,” he said.

The open plan layout provides great visibility and clear lines of sight to enhance security for both staff and customers. Within the layout there are private meeting rooms for conversations with bankers, however lots of the traditional ‘back office’ will be on display “Hell’s Kitchen” style, removing the mystique surrounding banking process.

The presence of Intelligent Deposit Machines, which can accept up to 50 notes and 30 cheques at one time, will allow staff to spend more time ‘on the floor’ having quality conversations with their customers.

The new stores will also feature interactive digital marketing and community engagement with a level of sophistication rarely seen in Australia. The content, which was designed in collaboration with customers, will be displayed across three digital screens and can be tailored for specific stores to broadcast local events, sponsorships and community notices.

NAB is aiming to roll out elements of the new store across its retail network as the stores will set the benchmark for banking in Australia from early 2012.

Of the other four new stores to be opened, two are located in Victoria, one in New South Wales and one in Queensland. The new Docklands store will be managed by Vinit Ajmani and supported by an experienced team, and will have a range of special opening offers for customers from the 9th January.

NAB Docklands 800 Bourke Street, Docklands (In the NAB building) The Store will be open from 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday.

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